Aaron Paquette and Sylvie Nadeau, Untitled

Nadeau mural (left side)

Nadeau mural (right side)

Original Nadeau mural (centre)

Full Paquette mural

Paquette mural (left side)

Paquette mural (centre)

Paquette mural (right side)

Artist Info: Aaron Paquette is a Metis artist who lives and works in the Edmonton area. According to his website, he is a painter, writer, keynote speaker and workshop facilitator. He acts as a mentor artist as well as an activist and First Nations representative for the province of Alberta. His training is not actually in painting but in the creation of stained glass windows and metal work. This background as a goldsmith is apparent in the metal details in the mural.

Sylvie Nadeau is a Quebec-born artist who has been residing and making work in Edmonton since the 80s. She completed degrees in Fine Art at Laval University and Arts Education at the University of Alberta. Nadeau completed the original Grandin Station mural of Bishop Grandin 25 years ago. She was invited to return and complete a second mural with Paquette to discuss the controversy of the original mural. 

The original Grandin mural was created in 1989 and was a memorial to Bishop Grandin who played an active role in the early development of the area. The work became very controversial after its creation because of the role the bishop played in the creation of the residential school system in Alberta. Nadeau said she was unaware of the controversies when she painted the work and saw the piece as being about "love, compassion, learning to live and build in harmony together". Nevertheless, she has received much criticism about the piece due to its connection to Canada's painful history in the residential schooling system. As a result, she was eager for the opportunity to add to the mural and change the tone from something about darkness to a more hopeful outlook. Nadeau added a panel to either end of her original mural. The scenes show playful aboriginal children with First Nations symbols and icons in the background, showing the children's link to their culture. 

Facing the Nadeau mural is Paquette's 80 foot work. Paquette talks about his opinions of the original mural as a child in saying that he had liked the Grandin mural because it reminded him of his ancestors as the first people to live on this land. As he grew older and learned about the history of the residential schools he began to associate it with a painful chapter in Canada's history. He, just like Nadeau, was happy for the chance to continue the dialogue and make the station about celebration. 

On his mural Paquette painted both aboriginal individuals and a number of animals. In his statement about the work he identified that each one of the animals has a very important symbolic meaning; the white buffalo represents peace and hope, the wolves discuss family and a connection to the land, the bears are about healing and the raven represents a teacher and a connection between both life and death. The piece discusses the 10 000 year history of people on this land. 


My Thoughts: I had actually written a blog post about the original Nadeau work in the summer but had deleted it before it was posted. I wasn't sure what I thought about the piece. I clearly saw the connection to the residential schooling system in the mural but did not want to blame Nadeau who said it was not her intention to bring up painful memories in the piece. I didn't know what tone I wanted the post to take so I deleted it before it was finished. As a result, I was very happy when I heard that the controversial piece had been added to and could not wait to make it the next blog posting. I love the bright colours and gold details in the Paquette work. In one of his statements he talks about going down into the dark cavern of the station as a journey to discover a secret or story . I can definitely see through the mood of his piece that the story is now one of healing. 

I have added many photos to this post. Both of the Paquette piece and of Nadeau's mural. I apologize for the quality of the photos. To protect the works from the LRT the murals are now covered in glass. Unfortunately, the overhead lights in the station reflect off the glass making it hard to photograph the work. Also, being so long, the photos all come in parts. I really recommend you going to the station yourself to check out this beautiful work. There are also a ton of great photos of the mural's installation in this Edmonton Journal blog: http://blogs.edmontonjournal.com/2014/03/17/2o14-o3-16-grandin-stations-conversation/

Finally, I just wanted to let you know that blog posts will be coming slightly less frequently. I have become very busy over the past few months and have been struggling to find time and motivation to keep posting. I do still want to continue the blog but will probably drop down to only posting about once a month instead of every two weeks. If you want to keep seeing posts send me a message! I'd love to hear from you. 

Zoe Bacchus, Sherri Shorten and Harold Wollin, 'Sway'

Artist Info: The latest work on the blog is a compilation by three different individuals from varying backgrounds.  Zoe Bacchus is a Masters student at Concordia where she is researching the effects of sound on the brain. Much of her work involves the connections between sound and art and how they affect one another. She is not a stranger to art collaborations and has worked with other artists to create pieces for public, private, corporate and non-profit businesses. Sherri Shorten is a Edmonton-based architect who has made her career creating a number of private, public and tourist structures. She is also passionate about art and works as an artist on the side to create her pieces for sale at local galleries and markets. Finally, Harold Wollin is an owner a chef at the Blue Chair Cafe in Edmonton. He completed his degree at NAIT in culinary arts and has travelled all over the world where he picked up different cooking styles from a multitude of cultures. Beyond his career in the kitchen he is also a musician and an artist.

'Sway' is a 12 foot by 20 foot mosaic on the side of the Arts Habitat building at 102 Avenue just East of 106th Street. The mosaic is made up of over 12 000 ceramic tiles depicting an elm tree. According to The Places website, the elm tree is supposed to represent the harmony and connection between all three of the artists as well as the city of Edmonton itself as a major arts centre in a unique, northern location. The piece was a 2001 commission by The Places for the Edmonton Business Council for the Visual Arts.


My Thoughts: I was intrigued to learn about the elm tree as a symbol to represent all of the artists since I was definitely surprised by the differing backgrounds of the three contributors. I would like to know more about how they see the elm as a symbol and what sort of collaborative process they went through as artists to create the piece. 

I pass this work a few times a week and so I have had the opportunity to see it at all times of the year. I find I enjoy the piece much more in the summer than the winter. A major reason for this might be the colour scheme. During the winter the building and parking lot around the work is incredibly grey. I find the reds and oranges in the tiles are not particularly vibrant (perhaps due to sun fading?) so they do not jump out at me or contrast against the grey surroundings. In the summer, when the area is green, sunny and colourful, I find I enjoy the navy blue tiles which have maintained their vibrancy and provide a nice contrast to the bright surroundings. 

In whatever season, I still do like this small reference to nature in between all of the buildings of 102 Ave. What do you think? Have you noticed this work seems different with the seasons?